Public consultation to modify the Directive on Animal Experimentation in Spain and adapt it to what Europe demands
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Map) will modify the Royal Decree on the “protection of animals used in experimentation.” This article explains how to participate in the public consultation and help end the horror of animal experimentation.
Although it is evident that there may never be any well -being for “used” animals in laboratories, animal experimentation in Spain is supposed to be regulated by Royal Decree 53/2013, of February 1, “by which the applicable basic standards are established for the protection of animals used in experimentation and other scientific purposes, including teaching. ”
Today, this royal decree is only a facade to appear that there is strict regulation and transparency in animal experimentation. The reality is that this supposed regulation is not fulfilled on many occasions, such as not inspecting the greatest “primates farm for experimentation” in Europe, Camarney SL, nor has it served to prevent serious cases of animal abuse, such as the investigated live, or To prevent aberrant studies, such as killing 36 rats to “study the benefits of the Potón de la Vera”).
Now, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Map) is forced to submit to public consultation the modification of this directive to adapt it to the changes approved by the European Union. This consultation is a great opportunity for society to require real supervision in animal experimentation and take effective measures for the development of alternative methods and the end of this cruel business. You can participate until February 7 by sending an email to bzn-cepic@mapa.es.
To help better understand why it is so important to participate in this consultation, the Animal Life Anthropology Group (Grup Ava) has published an answer in which it argues its rejection of animal experimentation from the ethical point of view and motivates the inefficiency of this “practice.”
For its part, and to facilitate participation, abolition Vivisection has shared several modifications and proposals to which Grup Ava and the Haiekin association have also joined. All these proposals can be sent directly from hereso the organization encourages both entities and individuals to do so. Interds, legal operators for animals, an organization composed of professionals belonging to each of the areas that make up the legal operators system in Spain, has confirmed to El Caballo de Nietzsche that it is in the process of preparing its proposals to the modification of the real Decree.
The modifications and proposals of abolition vivisection are the following:
On article 3. Definitions.
- Modify the definition of “procedure”, g), and include animals that are euthanized with the sole purpose of using their organs and tissues. As well as that annual statistical reports of the use of animals in research and teaching are included.
About article 21. Primates.
- Modify point 2. and include species declared in danger of extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (for example, the long tail macaco or Macaca fasciculariswhich was last evaluated in 2022 for the red list of threatened species of the IUCN and cataloged as “in danger” according to the A3CD criteria).
On article 22. Animals captured in nature.
- Prohibit the use of animal species of which there is evidence or suspicions of having been captured in nature (for example, according to CITES resolution, the Macaca fascicularis, whose origin is Vietnam).
On article 28. End of the procedure.
- Modify point 1. so that the decision to keep animals alive is taken by a veterinarian independent of the study and is always properly justified.
On article 30. released animals.
- Modify the article and establish the obligation to adopt all animals whose health allows it. As well as establish a state plan to carry it out, in collaboration with the centers that can host and manage the adoption of animals.
On article 34. Project evaluation.
- Strengthen the impartiality and exhaustive and independent study of each project during its evaluation, avoiding the approval of unnecessary studies (for example, this, or east).
On article 35. Retrospective evaluation.
- Include “without recovery” procedures in the obligation to perform a retrospective evaluation.
- Publication of retrospective evaluations.
On article 39. Composition.
- Modify the current criteria of the composition of the ethical committees of animal experimentation to include (at least) an independent person expert in ethics, an independent person expert in alternative methods and an independent veterinarian (in the case of projects in the projects in the that primates are used, it must be an independent veterinarian specialized in primates).
On article 40. Inspections or controls.
- Sanction the competent or enabled bodies when they do not fulfill their functions, as well as disable unperse centers, or not properly inspected, until they are.
- Permanent disabling the centers sanctioned by serious or very serious infractions.
- Increase the number of inspections to breeders, suppliers and user centers; especially, inspections without prior notice. During them, all housed animals must be supervised to guarantee their well -being.
On article 41. Coordination, duty of information and information advertising.
- Publication of infractions and sanctions to breeders, suppliers and users by the competent bodies.
- In annual reports, include data from animals that have been sacrificed without having been used in any procedure.
About Annex VII. Elements to establish the minimum requirements related to the education and training of personnel.
- Modify and update the elements listed in collaboration with independent people and experts in alternative methods.
Other proposals:
- To achieve the ultimate goal of the total replacement of animals in the procedures, as reflected in the tenth consideration of the delegated directive (EU) 2024/1262, establish a rate for each use and each animal used in research and teaching that is destined completely to encourage and finance the investigation of “alternative methods.”
- Prohibit financing with public funds for projects and/or experiments that are intended to be carried out in countries with laws that offer less protection of animals than that collected by Spanish legislation.
- Public centers and agencies may not, in any case, hire companies that are being investigated for crimes of animal abuse, until the process will be resolved.
- To avoid duplicities of studies and “uses of animals”, all the results of projects and experiments that involve the use of animals must be published, both those that have obtained positive results and those who do not.
ABOLITION Vivisection calls for participation and sending these or other proposals. Animal experimentation is a cruel and useless business that every year tortures and murders more than one million animals in Spain and hundreds of millions worldwide.
Neither animal experimentation must continue to exist, nor our society must continue to allow it.
